Should You Weigh Your Food?

If you’re like most people, and are guilty of having over indulged in unhealthy foods and drinks for far too long, the time will probably have come for you to get on some sort of diet or healthy eating regime, and attempt to undo the weeks, months, even years, of unhealthy nutritional choices. Obviously it’s easy to say that you’re going to do something, the hard part is actually forcing yourself to make the changes and stick to your healthy eating regime. Before you go any further, one of the first things you will have to do, is to figure out exactly what it is you’re looking to get from your radical new diet and lifestyle. For example, if you want to just drop a couple of pounds, you will only need to make slight tweaks and adjustments, whereas somebody looking to completely transform their body, taking it from fat, to ripped, is going to have to make some very serious changes. Whether you want to bulk up, slim down, or completely alter your physique, one of the most effective things you can do in the kitchen, is take the time to invest in a set of decent weighing scales, and actually weigh your food before you prepare it. People often wonder whether they should weigh their food or not, and so to help set the record straight, here’s a more detailed look.

Why weigh your food?

When it comes to getting in shape, the majority of your body transformation won’t actually take place in the gym at all, it will actually take place in the comfort of your own kitchen, providing you utilize all of the right tools and use them to your advantage. A lot of people see kitchen weighing scales as a complete waste of time, and instead opt to estimate and guess various weights and measurements. This however, is one of the worst things you can do, which is why a set of kitchen weighing scales can prove so extremely helpful. We’ll now take a look at several reasons why you should weigh your food instead of just guessing.

They leave nothing to chance

In order for you to lose weight, build muscle, increase your strength or anything else for that matter, you have to be consuming the perfect combination of macronutrients, coming from fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. A lot of people will find themselves trying to lose weight, they’ll exercise religiously, and their diets will be incredibly clean and healthy. The problem however, will be the portions and serving sizes. It doesn’t matter what you eat, or how healthy it is, if you consume more calories than you can burn off, you are going to gain weight. If you consume just enough calories required by the body for maintenance, obviously you won’t lose any weight, and so the only way to lose weight safely, is to create a healthy calorie deficit. The only way to do this, is to know exactly how much of each food that you’re consuming. When weighing food, you can weigh and measure foods like chicken, or rice, and by knowing exactly how much you have, you know exactly how many calories you are consuming. If for example, a healthy diet plan calls for 150g of brown rice, with 8 ounces of chicken, and 10 ounces of broccoli, although it won’t sound like much, but if you instead try guessing, and end up with 200g of rice, 10 ounces of chicken, and 12 ounces of broccoli, your calories will be much higher than they should be. Repeat this process every day, for every meal, and it will be obviously why you’re struggling to lose fat.

They’re great for tracking macros

Macros, or macronutrients, as they’re known, are made up of protein, carbohydrates, and fats, and are basically the exact amount of calories in our daily intakes, that come from each food stuff. Tracking macros is important because you can create custom diet plans based upon specific goals. For example, if you’re looking to build lean muscle mass and lose body fat, your protein intakes will need to be relatively high each day. Say for example, your daily target for calories is 2200 per day, and 50% of those calories have to come from protein, the only way you’re able to measure things accurately, is to weigh each food item before you prepare it. Weighing your foods will ensure that you’re getting your 1100 calories from protein, leaving you to get your remaining 1100 calories from fats and carbohydrates.

They’re simple and quick to use

A lot of people are put off by weighing scales in the kitchen, as they often think that they’re too difficult to use and too time consuming. In reality however, kitchen weighing scales are painfully quick and easy to use, as you simply select the weight you wish to record by pressing the relevant button, place your food item on the scales, balance out the reading if you’re using a Tupperware of plastic container etc, and then see what the numbers are saying. If your diet plan calls for 8 oz of tuna, and you only have 6, add a little more until you get 8, and remove a little if you have too much. Once done, a quick wipe down with an anti-bacterial soap, and you’re good to go. After a while, you get so used to the size and feel of each food item, that you may not even need to use the scales at all.

They’re portable and convenient

Another great benefit associated with kitchen weighing scales, is that they aren’t like a set of bathroom weighing scales that are designed to hold a human being, they are instead small, battery operated, and portable, so for time when you’re out of town and on the road, using them is a piece of cake as they take up virtually no room at all. Many bodybuilders who have traveled to other cities/countries, in preparation for a show, will rely heavily on their kitchen weighing scales as they prepare each meal, and when you’re in the run up to a contest, a few measly grams of carbs or fats, could be the difference between success and failure.